Knott's Berry Farm's Roaring 20's - Summer 1975 (50th Anniversary!)

Over the years, I have been searching online for vintage images of a shopping mall that I used to visit as a child.  Usually, nothing comes up, but then one day.....BINGO!  A large set of slides showed up on ebay, which included images taken at FIVE different malls that I used to go to with my mom and grandparents.  As a side bonus, that same lot of slides also contained one dozen images from Knott's Berry Farm, taken in August of 1975, shortly after Knott's unveiled it's brand new "Roaring 20's" section of the park.

So now, I would like you to meet Ralph and Florence, and their son, Alfred.  Based on both the subject matter and the info written on some of their other slides, I have discovered a few things about this family.  They lived in Pomona, California.  They liked visiting shopping malls.  They enjoyed dining out, and they also liked to travel.  I will be posting more of their photos in the future, especially the vintage "mall" shots.  But for now, let's take a trip with them to Knott's Berry Farm.  I am going to include the hand-written labels from their slides.  They will be in berry-colored italics.

"Entrance to Roaring 20's Section at Knott's Berry Farm"

Here we see Ralph (in the red pants) standing at the entrance to the Roaring 20's area, while Florence rests on a bench, at the far left.  Notice the Knott's Bear-y Tales attraction in the background.  This was Knott's first attempt at a "dark ride," for which they hired renowned Disney artist-designer, Rolly Crump, and his son Chris Crump.

"Ralph & Florence at Roaring 20's Section - Knott's Berry Farm"

This is just an alternate view of the same general area, but now we can see the north entrance to the Buffalo Nickel Arcade, and also the Lindy's Cafe food service windows (on the far right).  Today, Johnny Rocket's takes up the space formerly occupied by Lindy's and that northern portion of the arcade.

I tried to merge the previous two photos.  I think it came out pretty good, considering the fact that I don't have Photoshop.

"Ralph & Florence by Fountain at Entrance to Roaring 20's Section - Knott's Berry Farm"

In the past, I've mentioned how this fountain was used in the film, "Hello Dolly!"  I also posted about how Knott's did not originally use it as a fountain (note the plants in the base).  It was finally converted into a fully functional fountain, about 11 years later.  (Now, after having said that, I just noticed a slight stream of water coming out of the mouths of the upside down fish, near the base of the fountain.  That trickle of water appears to be falling into those small basins, attached to the fountain's base.  This feature was not working on the fountain, during my first four years of employment with Knott's.)

"Cars Turning Upside-down on Corkscrew Roller Coaster Ride - Roaring 20's Section - Knott's Berry Farm"

I love seeing rare views of Knott's Corkscrew, when it was still painted entirely white, and with the absence of the Sky Jump tower in the background.  The Sky Jump, along with the rest of the "Roaring 20's Airfield," were added to that corner of the park just one year later. 

"Corkscrew Ride - Knott's Berry Farm"

Hmmm, I wonder if Ralph or Florence went on the Corkscrew?  I went on it that first summer!  A recording in the queue used to say, "Welcome to the Corkscrew....America's first looping roller coaster."  They should have added the words "modern day" in there, because there were some earlier looping coasters.

"Al by Restored City Clock - Knott's Berry Farm"

This is Alfred.  He's Ralph and Florence's son.  Notice how he and his dad both got dressed up for this Knott's visit.  I remember this clock very well.  Unfortunately, it was taken out when the Corkscrew was replaced by "Boomerang," in 1990.  As far as I know, the clock was not relocated.  I wonder if it was placed into storage, or if it was just tossed into a dumpster along with the Haunted Shack?  As for that hand-written description on the slide, I don't remember there ever being a plaque near this clock, so I don't know if it truly was a "restored city clock" or not.  Maybe an employee had given them some detailed information about the clock.

Fun Fact:  Alfred and Walter Knott both attended Pomona High School, in Pomona, California....different years, of course!

"Old Chiming Pole Clock - Roaring 20's Section - Knott's Berry Farm"

Okay, I also don't remember this clock doing any chiming.  And I worked at Knott's for years, and walked by the clock quite often.  I wonder if maybe it did chime in the very early years of the Roaring 20s, but then broke and was never fixed?  After all, that is what happened to the clock in Camp Snoopy.  Note the "Bath House & Plunge" sign in the background.  That sign and the faux windows above it, were placed there to "dress up" what was actually the backside of the Calico Mine Ride's show building.

"Florence Near Marathon Dance Pavilion - Roaring 20's Section - Knott's Berry Farm"

Here's a nice photo of Florence, sitting near one of Knott's infamous popcorn wagons.  I've told this story before, but I think it's worth repeating, because unlike Knott's Berry Farm's popcorn, the story never gets old.  I used the word "infamous" to describe the popcorn wagon, because when I worked at Knott's, they used to make us save the popped popcorn that was remaining at the end of the night.  We were told to scoop it into a trash bag, and bring it into one of the main buildings (the popcorn wagons were all "satellite" locations, belonging to various restaurants throughout the park).  The next day, the person who was opening the popcorn wagon was supposed to take the trash bag full of the old popped popcorn, and dump it into the popcorn bin.  We were told to then pop a fresh batch of popcorn, and mix it together with the old stuff.  How gross!  And how very CHEAP of them!  But that was just par for the course, at "The Farm."  Ah, but I digress!  I just hope that Florence, Ralph, and Alfred didn't have any "early morning" popcorn that day!

"View Near Entrance of Roaring 20's - Knott's Berry Farm"

In this view of the water fountain, we can see the signage for both Cordy's Variety Corner and the Candy Cottage.  Several years ago, the Candy Cottage was converted into a coffee shop.  And unfortunately, that fabulous "Knott's Roaring 20's" neon sign on the roof of the Knott's Bear-y Tales building, was removed in 2015.  

"Good Time Theater (Formerly John Wayne Theater) - Knott's Berry Farm"

Ralph....or someone, gets bonus points for knowing that the Good Time Theater was formerly the John Wayne Theater, AND for including that information in the labeling of the slide!  I wonder what the "Pepsi Cola Presents Pop Your Buttons" show was all about?  Maybe that's what happened to you after eating too much day-old popcorn, and then drinking a Pepsi Cola!

Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids were also performing in the theater.  I do remember them appearing at Knott's, even though I never actually saw their show.  They were a retro rock 'n' roll band, who had made an appearance earlier that year in an episode of Happy Days, as "Johnny Fish & the Fins."  They had also appeared two years earlier in the film, "American Graffiti," as "Herby & the Heartbeats."

"View Looking Out Toward Old Train from Entrance to Berry Tales - Knott's Berry Farm"

Now, maybe someone should get points taken off, for changing the correct spelling of "Bear-y" to "Berry."  Oh, well....no biggie, I guess.  This photo was taken from the upper-level of the queue for the Knott's Bear-y Tales attraction.  To the left of the Charleston Circle fountain, we can see the "ride operations" office for the Roaring 20's area.  The office was built on "stilts," and employees accessed it via that spiral staircase just to the right of it (which is mostly obstructed by that palm tree).

"View Near General Store - Ghost Town - Knott's Berry Farm"

This last photo was taken on Market Street, in the Ghost Town section of the park.  This row of buildings housed the General Store, the Pitchur Gallery, and the Covered Wagon Show.  Note the cowboy sitting on top of the barrels.

The General Store is still standing today, and it doesn't look too different than it did in 1975, even though quite a bit of the wood on the facade has been replaced over the years, along with some alterations to the faux "second story."

For a few years after the Roaring 20's area opened, a copy of the "Good Time Gazette" was given out to guests as they entered the park.  This is the copy that my family received, when we visited Knott's the very same month as Ralph, Florence, and Al.  Maybe we were all there on the same day!

The front page featured articles on the park's entertainment, and also what was new at Knott's.  Roger Miller was performing that day.  The article about him mentions that he was the songwriter, and narrator for Disney's recent animated film, "Robin Hood."  That film had actually been released almost 2 years earlier, in November of 1973.

The third article was highlighting Knott's brand new dark ride, "Knott's Bear-y Tales."  I remember even as a kid, I was surprised to see that Knott's had built a "Disney-style" dark ride with an "Omnimover" system!

The back page included a listing of all the park entertainment.  So apparently, the "Peps-Cola Presents Pop Your Buttons" show was a "Roaring 20's Revue."  They sure had a lot of street entertainment in the new Roaring 20's area.  There was a Ragtime/Jazz piano player outside of the Hollywood Beanery restaurant, as well as saxophone players and slapstick comedy "on the streets."  I wonder when they got rid of all those entertainers?  They weren't around seven years later, when I was hired to work at the park.

The inside of the "Good Time Gazette" included a map of the park.

We will end this post with a postcard, which I bought during that same August 1975 visit.  Notice how the Sky Jump/Sky Cabin tower isn't present in the background (or on the map above).  As I mentioned earlier, the Roaring 20's "Airfield" section was not added until the following year.

Happy 50th anniversary, to Knott's Roaring 20's....or what's left of it, anyway!  :-/

Oh, by the way.....if Ralph, Florence, and Al look familiar to you, it's because we have seen them previously over on Gorillas Don't Blog.  By pure coincidence, Major Pepperidge had purchased a "lot" of the family's Disneyland slides, and has already shared them with us in the following posts: Scarce Interiors, June 1963; A Pair From June 22, 1965; Views From June 22, 1965; Muffler Man At The Disneyland Hotel; Mules Of Mirth, June 12, 1973; and A Few More From June 12, 1973.

Knott's Kingdom of the Dinosaurs - Mega Post

With the grand opening of Knott's Berry Farm's "Voyage to the Iron Reef" taking place today, I thought it would be fun to revisit one of the rides that used to exist in that same attraction space.



Kingdom of the Dinosaurs opened in 1987 above the Buffalo Nickel Arcade, in what was then called "The Roaring 20's" section of the park. Out in front of the attraction was Rocko, a Triceratops that was sculpted out of serpentine marble by artist John Cody. The sculpture was started in January of 1988 and was completed the following month. During that time, visitors to the park could watch Mr. Cody sculpting Rocko out in the open, over near the Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars.



After the closure of Kingdom of the Dinosaurs in 2004, Rocko was moved to the center of the Huff 'n Puff attraction in Camp Snoopy (pictured below). Unfortunately, he disappeared from this location not too long ago, and is currently nowhere to be found inside the park. I certainly hope he is being stored safely somewhere backstage. Maybe he is resting comfortably with the large chicken that used to sit in front of Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant.



This mural was located in the attraction's loading and unloading area. It was supposed to represent Los Angeles/Hollywood in the 1920's.



Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the attraction's first scene, which was the professor's laboratory. After leaving the laboratory, guests would see images from the Renaissance and Byzantine eras flash briefly across a cave wall. Following that, riders found themselves in the scene featuring Early Man.



I somehow also missed taking photos of the Sloth and Wooly Mammoth animatronics, but I did get a pic of the Saber-toothed Tiger.



Here's Dimetrodon.....



Stegasaurus....



I have to say that these figures looked MUCH better in the dark under dramatic show lighting, and without the harshness of the camera flash on them. This was especially the case with the flying Pteranodon that would circle above the riders below.



Two young Triceratops....




Tyrannosaurus Rex with the adult Triceratops on the far right.....



Apatosaurus.....



Next door to Kingdom of the Dinosaurs was the Dinostore Digs shop. This shop later became the Ride Warriors shop and also the seasonal Elvira's "Boo-tique." (I found these exterior and interor pics of the store on the internet and wanted to give credit to whoever took them, but I was not able to locate the "owner" of the images. If these are your pics, please leave a comment below and I will either remove them or give you credit.)





Here is a park merchandise bag from around the time that the new ride and shop opened.



A postcard from the same time period:



This graphic of Snoopy with a Triceratops was from a souvenir T-Shirt.



I bought this pin in the Dinostore Digs shop back in the summer of 1987.



This button was also sold in the park during that first summer.



These next two buttons were exclusive giveaways for employees only.



The button below, shows a Triceratops clinging to the new "Slingshot" attraction that opened in Fiesta Village that same summer. That attraction's name was later changed to "WaveSwinger" and is still operating in the park today.



This T-shirt was also an employee exclusive and was given out at the 1987 Employee Summer Kick-off Meeting. These pre-summer meetings were held every year and a T-shirt was usually given to employees at that time.





The Berry Vine was an employee newsletter that came out every Friday (which also happened to be payday). This issue shows the Tyrannosaurus Rex figure sitting outside the attraction right after it was delivered to the park, as well as a pic of it being lifted into the air by a crane. There is also an article about the park's new "Five-Year Plan." The "major new attraction" that was alluded to for 1988, would have been Big Foot Rapids.



When I was working at the park, I had heard that the T-Rex was dropped on the ground while they were lifing it up into the attraction, and that supposedly it's complex movement was compromised because of that. Does anyone know if this was true? I do remember riding it during an employee preview and thinking that it's motion seemed pretty limited.



Cathy Rigby, who played Peter Pan on a semi-regular basis at the La Mirada Civic Auditorium, brought her production to Knott's for a couple weeks in May of 1987. I had already been fortunate enough to see Sandy Duncan play the part of Peter Pan at the Pantages Theater in 1981....with Christopher Hewett (Mr. Belvedere!) as Captain Hook.

Note that tickets for employee night at Disneyland were only $12! Also, the Knott's employee bowling league was meeting at the Aztec Bowl. This bowling alley was located just up the street from Knott's, in the spot where the Pirate's Dinner Adventure is located today.



The ACM Awards used to be held every year at Knott's in the Good Time Theater. Also, the bucking bronco in The Pitchur Gallery was being replaced after 20 years. Another 28 years has now passed. I wonder if it has been replaced since 1987? And Knott's was selling a mule?



Here is the press kit for Summer of 1987....or at least the part of it that pertains to Kingdom of the Dinosaurs.



The graphics on the upper right of the Fact Sheet below, show silhouettes of the three new attractions that were opening in Fiesta Village that summer, Slingshot, Tampico Tumbler, and Gran Slammer. This was the year that the Tijuana Taxi was taken out and the Merry Go Round was moved to it's current location by the lake, in order to make room for the three new attractions. I scanned this press kit quite a while ago and did not scan the pages with the info on the Fiesta Village rides. I'm not sure why I did that, but I will try to get them scanned and posted soon.